Workplace Romance Building Together
by hartfordamy
Summary: Bella works for a very good Building Company and one day she is working on a new Victorian house across the road from a very hunky man. Could this be love? AH AU
1. Hello Cutie

Hello clever people reading my fanfic, this is a treat for you! Haha! I want to say thank you to my muse and rock, Blueflowers, and my idol, Bronzehairedgirl620!

My muse reminded me that Twilight, Bella and all her gorgeous lovers don't belong to me, they belong to Stephanie Meyer.

Please listen to the song; Lullabye (Goodnight, My angel) by Billy Joel. It is very Edward-ish (the words)!

"I want Renee," Jacob whined.

It was so unfair; he gets to spend Christmas with Mum every year!

"And Charlie can't cook!' Jacob cried again.

He really wanted to have a good X-mas dinner.

"But Renee can't cook that much better than Dad" I reasoned.

"Please Bella"

It's true that Charlie can't even cook toast without burning it and my little brother knows that. He also knows my weakness in saying no to him.

"Fine Dad's closer to me any way" I told him, giving in to him yet again.

I live in Seattle working for one of the largest construction and building companies around. Whereas Jacob's 'cool' garage is all the way in Arizona and closer to Mum's.

"Love you Jake. Talk before Christmas? OK?"

I really missed having my little, or 6 foot 2 giant of a brother around, he was one of my best friends.

"Yeah Bells, have fun with Charlie and say 'hi' to Seth from me"

"Sure, Sure." I used one of his more common phrases, "Enjoy your Christmas with Renee."

"And Phil.' He muttered. Jake never really took to Mum's new husband. I realized early on that if he makes her happy and treats her right, then it doesn't really matter if I think that he is too young for her or not.

"Phil really isn't that bad, he's cool." I encouraged.

"For you; anyway, love you sis, bye."

"Bye bro.'

Well that was my Christmas solved. A nice long weekend with my father.

"Bella" My intercom went on. I loved having an assistant; it was one of the many perks I get, being one of the partners here.

"Yes Emmet?" I replied.

I loved my huge and adorable co-worker. He made my job that much more enjoyable!

"I've got an Alice Brandon here."

Ah, my new client, things are really shaping up. When we spoke over the phone she seemed really nice, a little too happy for me. But too happy is better than too sad any day, right?

"Thanks, send her in Emmett, and could you bring me some coffee?"

"Sure Bella, coming right up".

I really do love Emmett; he is so nice and sweet, deep down. It's just a shame he doesn't have a girlfriend.

Alice came in, bouncing off the walls. Someone was happy to meet me. "Hi, I'm Alice Brandon"

"Nice to meet you Ms Brandon. I'm Isabella Swan, but please call me Bella".

She was small, but I'd heard she has the most malls in all America_._

"Bella, hi, call me Alice! Its so good to meet you, it was nice talking over the phone, but this is soooo much better!" She seemed very nice.

"Well, Alice, lets get started!"

It seemed she was looking forward to another large mall. Good for her. An independent woman. "Yes, I would love to start".

We worked for hours. It was surprisingly enjoyable. I had designed the floor plan that Alice is looking forward to building, with my company, in Forks, where I was going for X-mas. I told Alice as much.

"Oh, how good! I could join you!" I could see she was working out the details in her head. I meet her this morning, but already she was my friend.

"I'll ask. Alice, would you like to come tomorrow, only, right now I've got to have a look at a house we're fixing up." She looked surprised.

"No problem Bella, I'll see you tomorrow. How is 10?"

"Sounds perfect, see you then. But now I've really got to go! I'm late! ...

Time flies when your having fun.

…Emmett" he rushed round the corner. "Yeah?"

"Show Alice out please"

"Sure, come on Alice"

"Thanks Bella!" she was very heartfelt

"My pleasure"

I had to hurry. I was happy it wasn't rush hour, then if it was I would be in very big trouble. My truck, at the moment, was slower than I liked.

Jacob often offered to put together a new car, but he wouldn't let me pay.

"Sibling love, I might want you to do some thing for me one day" was always his response.

I pulled up on the curb. We were restoring a Victorian Mansion in the better parts of Seattle. On the street there were three or four houses with beautiful stain glass windows, and vines creeping up the walls.

"Ken", I shock his hand. He was the head builder, and I was administrating the construction. "Bella, get the protective gear on and have a peak around, be careful though, we wouldn't want anything to fall on your pretty head."

"Thanks Ken.", Why men think I need to take extra care is beyond me.

The floors were in, with lots of dust in the air and the smell of wood. The walls were not in place yet, so there was space for an animal to fit through. Which is what had happened.

There was a cat hiding in the corner. The cat was black, with a white stomach. Jake and Renee would have runaway; they are both so child-like and suppositious, like mother, like son.

"Here Puss" the cat moved its head towards me. Then, suddenly, the cat jumped into my arms.

"ARG!" I dropped the cat, and Ken came running. "What happened Bella?" he looked really concerned, but most likely he was worried that I would sue him.

"Just the cat. I'll take it back to its owner" I looked left and right to see which house looked like a cat would live in it.

"That one" Ken pointed to a beautiful 2 story house lilac Victorian house. "The owner complains about the noise. We don't make much, he must have sensitive hearing"

"Thanks Ken". Good, I can do 2 things at once. Return the cat, and apologize for the noise.

I carefully walked across the street with the cat in my arms. I was incredibly nervous the man would slam the door in my face or tell me the cat wasn't his.

I was very close to the door now and I could smell something sweet, maybe honey or a chocolate cake, or even lavender.

I pushed the black square bell, it lit up and I heard Beethoven 5th start to play. "One moment" a voice cried. At least he was courteous.

"May I help you?" It was a tall, blonde man, around my age with very sharp features.

"Is this your cat?" I felt ridiculous. I was still wearing the white hard hat.

"No" my face fell. "Edward" he called over his shoulder, I tried to see around, but I couldn't.

"One sec Jazz" was that a person speaking? It didn't sound like it. It sounded much better than any person's voice I'd ever heard. The man at the door stepped aside.

I looked at the person replacing him. He didn't look like a person, just like he didn't sound like

Whose voice could put a baby to sleep, yet scare the bravest man? I stood there with my mouth open.

"ARO! Thank.." at first he only looked at the cat, which I forgot was in my arms, anyone would, with a man like him standing in front of you, but then he forgot about the cat too.

"Hi" I said shyly. We just looked at each other. For anyone else it might seem like boring thing to do, but I wanted to study his face. I never wanted to forget this.

"Err…"

Thank you, and good night!!!


	2. Father of my child

Sorry about the stuff up at the beginning of the last chapter, thank you for reading it anyway.

Again to my superstar of a friend BlueFlowers, thank you for the idea and your amazing chats with me about all things Twilight.

Which reminds me, I don't own Twilight, as much as I am obsessed with it (as you can see, I wrote a story about it! Haha!)

****

…"Errr" It was the man who had opened the door. "Edward, Chelsea will be here soon"

Edward looked around confused. "Oh, well, Hi" he smiled at me.

"Hi", didn't I already say that? God, he must think I'm crazy. He just chuckled lightly; it was much better than his voice.

"Thanks for bringing back Aro, my cat" he held out his arms. Oh! I forgot about the cat.

"Yeah. Your welcome, umm, did you complain about the noise?" Great icebreaker. Umm. Couldn't I have asked him if he was single?

"Oh, yeah, umm. It was a little loud, not too bad, you know?" He seemed flustered and incredibly nervous.

"Well, um" I started. Think, Bella, think. Aha!

"I'm Isabella Swan, call me Bella. If you have any complaints or anything…"

I gave him my card with a shaky hand. "I'm in charge of the construction next door, and listening to unhappy neighbours is what I do".

It was a lie, but only a little one. He smiled again. Maybe he figured out my plan.

"I'll keep that in mind, Thanks again", he lips shaped into a sweet smile.

The other guy walked over with a sandwich in his hand and whisper in Edward's ear. Edward's smile disappeared.

"Thanks for your help Bella. Come around anytime you need a break".

That was nice of him. "I will. Thanks for being so understanding".

I didn't want to leave. It looked like Edward wanted me to stay too, but his roommate had other plans.

"Bye" He said, and closed the door on me.

I was driving home when Emmett called. "Hello my favourite sectary!"

"Hey Bella", he answered.

"What's up?" Emmett always had work gossip; it was his favourite topic, apart from his love life, _and mine_.

"You and Alice really hit it off. I think she will make us very rich!"

"Right", I answered "because I promised to share all my money with you! Ha!"

"Ok, well, you'll be rich! How is that beautiful house going?"

It made me think of the amazing man, Edward, I didn't get long enough to notice his bronze-ish perfect hair, or his emerald, soul deep eyes.

"Bella, Bells?" Emmett seemed worried. Which was fair, I'm not the best driver.

"Sorry, what?" I felt like an idiot.

"How is the house?" he asked again.

"Oh, great. Ken is doing a fantastic job, I knew it was a good idea to hire him".

"Listen," he started nervously, "Are you free for dinner?"

"Why? Where are we going this time?" Emmett liked spicy food.

"Chinese, with my wonderful mother." Emmett's tone was sour.

"Again? She doesn't like me since she found out I wont have your babies." I joked.

"They would have been babies", he always had to have the last word. I rolled my eyes, realizing to late he could not see me.

"She doesn't like me," I reminded him of what we were talking about.

"Relax, she's got a new boyfriend, I just can't face him alone. Are you in?"

He sounded so needy. "Anything for the father of my future babies."

"Love you Bells. Silky Apple, 8p, dressy and _very _low cut, about down to you waist."

"Ha, fat chance Em"

"Had to ask," he replied sadly, "Have you found anyone to wear a low cut dress for?"

"No" I smiled at the irony of his joke. "But you'll be the first to know".

I felt a little guilty, but I had not started doing anything, not yet, added the little voice in my head that I called Harold (although my mum called it my conscious).

"Okay, ciao" he was about to hang up.

"Emmett, wait"

"Huh," he said. Should I tell him? And over the phone?

"I need to tell you something tonight."

"Sure, looking forward to it".

"Oh, drive safe".

"Ha, you're telling me, Bells", he chuckled softly as the phone cut off.

Emmett was always so much fun, apart from the fact he was probably on steroids what with his giant muscles and all. Dinner tonight should be fun.

I decided on a long, black silk dress that clung to my figure. I'm sure it's fancy enough.

"Hello", it was my phone.

"Hey Bella! I hear you are coming for Christmas," It was Seth. He was a few years younger than Jacob and I, but when we were little we used to play with him _a lot_. Heck, we still had fun with him now.

"Yeah. I'm coming. Did Jake tell you?"

"Yeah," he sounded excited, "I just got off the phone with him. I was wondering, are you bringing any friends this year?"

"Maybe," I thought of Alice, as I chuckled to myself. I'm sure Seth would love her; I'm just not sure how much she would enjoy the gesture.

"Anyway, just rang to say Jake is bragging about a new girlfriend."

"Really?" Jake would usually tell me first.

"Yeah, she's blonde."

"Great, when do we get to see if she's good enough?" I answered. This will be fun.

"Jake said he really likes her. I don't know when. By next year, soon." Seth sounded a little confused as he answered me.

"Looking forward to it. Ciao, I'll see you at Christmas, bye Seth."

"Bye Bella," he replied. Seth was at College, close to home, and me. So he was on the phone to Jacob a lot because they didn't see each other often due to distance and rising air and gas fees.

Jake had had lots of girlfriends, but mostly bookish girls, with a sister like me, he thought that's what all girls are like. When Seth said 'Blonde' he meant very good-looking and have little interest in books and academics.

I was on my way to the restaurant when my very busy phone sounded again.

"Hey, Where are you? You're late! Bella, please don't ditch me! Not now!"

"Relax Emmett! I'm on my way, in fact I'm here." I switched off my phone. "Hi" I said.

"Did you just hang up on me?" he asked in fake girly anger as he snapped his fingers.

He looked stunning. He had on a black button up shirt with grey diamonds running down in columns from his broad shoulders to the tail of his shirt. He wore dark jeans; they were probably the most fancy things he had. He looked striking.

"What's the new mans name?" Although I knew Emmett liked to call him 'Frex' I was sure that would not make 'Frex' happy.

"Matthew."

"Sounds nice already," he snorted under his breath.

Matthew pulled my chair out for me. "So, Bella, how do you know young Emmett here?"

GOD! Was this guy lame, he was trying to be a father? "Work".

Was my simple reply. Matthew looked surprised. Emmett's mum didn't tell dear old Matt that we are not a couple.

"Well, the first time they saw each other" started Emmett's mum. She is just annoying, I hate her almost as much as Emmett.

Oh, I felt a buzz. Saved by the bell. "Sorry".

I got up from the table. "It was my phone, it never stopped ringing. "Hello" I answered.

"Is this Bella Swan?"

*****

Hope you enjoyed it! I did! :D


	3. Party Time

**REVIEW!!!!! IF YOU LIKE IT, TELL ME! IF YOU HATE IT, TELL ME! IF YOU WANT IT TO BE DIFFERENT, TELL ME! JUST PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks ******

**(to those who did review, all five of you, thank you)**

…"Is this Bella Swan?"

It was a voice that was so sweet and optimistic yet sad and cynical at the same time.

"This is she" I answered.

"This is Edward Cullen," I know, I thought.

"The guy with the cat," he clarified, as if scared I wouldn't remember him. Ha, not remembering him, what a crazy idea! It was hard to forget some one as remarkable as him.

I was so happy that he had understood my hint!

"Hi Edward. Nice to hear from you," I was just picturing him in my mind. I had to swallow to clear my head.

"I was, um, yeah see, well I would like to invite you to, um, a birthday party, kinda, at Club Martini on, um ah, on Saturday night?"

I heard a chuckle in the background "Dude," the fuzzy noise called," it's just a girl, get a grip".

I found the idea of making an unbelievably good-looking man uncomfortable in front of a woman comical.

The line was silent. He was waiting for me to reject his very subtle offer. It was clear, from his stutters and pauses, he did not environment where he had to spend a lot of time with other people.

Then it clicked. He invited me to CLUB MARTINI! It was THE hottest club this side of the city. I had gone once with Jake and Seth, but I didn't have much to do because being the odd one out (a girl) I was the designated driver.

"I would, um, love to go."

Maybe love was too strong! Did I just say um? Goodness, it sounded like I have a speech disability **(AN speech disability is NOT a bad thing!)**

"Great," he enthusiastically replied immediately, "So it's for Jasper, my housemate, and you can bring a guest".

Alice popped into my head. She would love it.

"Cool, thanks so much. I'll see you Saturday," I got to see him in all his glory on Saturday!

He sighed heavily. "See you".

I walked out of the bathroom after adjusting my dress. I felt there was some pride to be taken in appearance.

I returned to the table with a wide grin, looking forward to telling Emmett the news.

Emmett leaned towards me as I approached my chair.

"Was that about my Christmas presents, that would be why your smile is so freakishly large?" He tried to whisper.

"Lets go to the bathroom" was my whispered reply.

"Excuse us," he announced loudly," Bathroom break".

He pulled me up by the arm and Matt eyed Emmett with meaning, while Emmett's mum just looked unhappy.

"Don't be too long," she warned us.

****

"Bella, what happened? Why the hell are you so happy?" He was anxious. I knew he would be.

"You know the Victorian house we're restoring?"

"OMG! You bought it?" I laughed. It was a good guess though.

"No, I wish. Anyway, there's this guy that lives next door…"

"Right on" he smiled proudly while giving me a hug, but people watching would think he was trying to kill me the way he gave hugs.

"Em, enough. I'm going on Saturday to his friends birthday party, he said I could bring a friend."

"You can't bring me!" he shouted.

"Emmett, I know! Can you please stop interrupting!" what was he thinking? If he kept this up he'd be out of a job. I chuckled at the joke inside my head.

"Anyway, I think I'll bring Alice. What do you think?"

"I think you are a genius! Alice would be perfect!" Cool. I respected his opinion, I was glad he agreed with me.

"Ok, lets get back to your mum before she sends out the helicopters" I joked.

When we did reach the table, we found Em's mum and Matt in a passionate embrace.

"Is it wrong that this is not the first time I have seen her do that?"

"It will ruin your psychic forever" I smiled at my own joke. I think I'm funny.

"I think its time for me to leave, say bye to your mum for me." I chucked again at how intelligent I thought my jokes were.

Emmett kissed my cheek as softly as he could. "Bye Bells, drive safe."

**I can't write anymore, but I really liked the idea of posting right away. Here is a chapter short, and SWEET! Haha ******


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